


meant to be yours

by baecobz



Series: in every universe [12]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Childhood Friends, Crushes, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, High School, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Soulmates, lapslock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-05-16 17:05:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14815371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baecobz/pseuds/baecobz
Summary: mark talks about his soulmate like he knows they exist, and that it's definitely not yukhei.thankfully, only one of those things are true.





	meant to be yours

**Author's Note:**

> dedicated to soonhee as usual but ALSO!!! the lovely anon on cc!!!!!!!!!! THANK U. SO MUCH for giving me an idea i wasnt sure if i was gonna make it today jfskd

soulmates, as yukhei has come to believe, are more of a lottery than anything else.

some people win it and end up with people who compliment their every edge and curve, fitting into their life like it’s where they were made to exist. others lose it-- while some people find themselves with ill-matched soulmates in a cruel twist of fate, most don’t have a soulmate at all.

and, just like a lottery, people with real soulmates are one in a million; the only difference is that if you win, you might as well be guaranteed happiness; even if your soulmate doesn’t make you happy, then can help you figure out how to be.

so.

yukhei has bought maybe a dozen lottery tickets from run down grocery stores and gas stations (mostly during late nights when mark had dragged him out for a midnight snack), and he’s never won.

he figures that it should be the same when it comes to soulmates.

mark, on the other hand, is probably the opposite.

or, not the opposite, but _different_.

even though the two of them have been best friends for most of their lives, mark’s always had this gut feeling that he has a soulmate out there, and a _good one_.

yukhei’s not sure what to think of it, mostly because he can’t very well say _no, what you’re feeling is wrong_ because it might not be, and he doesn’t even know what mark is feeling in the first place.

still-- it doesn’t make it any easier to listen to mark talk about his soulmate, to hear him wondering about their habits and interests and _hey, xuxi, what do you think they’re up to right now?_

it hurts just a little bit, because yukhei’s been pining over mark for what felt like ages. it had started when they met as kids, when neither yukhei or mark had been familiar with english, and had struggled as mark tried to ask yukhei to push him on the swing set. they had managed, in their own, peculiar way, and it had set the tone for their entire relationship.

yukhei would, after all, never hesitate to do whatever mark asked of him, even if he never really understood it.

for a brief, wonderful period in middle school, yukhei had been convinced that his crush had faded completely. he had brushed it aside as a childhood infatuation and moved on to happily play with his best friend. _platonically_.

then high school arrived, and yukhei realized very quickly that friends don’t want to hold each others’ hands and give each other kisses on the cheek and want _more_.

and so.

yukhei has come to accept that maybe they’re not soulmates, but they might as well be considering the way they work together.

(but they still aren’t, yukhei has to remind himself, because mark has a soulmate somewhere and to wish otherwise would be horrible and selfish.)

one day after school, they’re sitting on yukhei’s bed pretending to do homework (yukhei’s just starting at mark and pretending he can’t see mark playing games on his phone behind his textbook) when mark sits up, tossing his phone aside, and sighs.

“what’s up?” yukhei knows that a sighing mark is never a good thing-- it’s just a sign of a long, exhausting conversation that’ll have yukhei scrambling for words.

“you know how, like, everyone has a soulmate key? like, by their bloodline, or whatever?” yukhei nods slowly, because he thinks he remembers hearing something about that, awhile ago. his family, should anyone ever have a soulmate, will know when they see a red string connecting them. though he’s not sure why it’s important if he doesn’t have one. “i just-- it’s the younger person’s, right? like, their key happens when they’re eighteen. to both of you.” yukhei nods again. sometimes he wonders if he could just nod along whenever mark pauses, and the younger boy would ever notice. “what if my soulmate’s key is really weird, and they’re younger so i have to deal with it? that would suck _so bad_.”

yukhei snorts, flopping down to lie on his stomach and pretend he’s not panicking over the idea that, if everything was switched and mark’s soulmate was older, they could turn 18 any day now and whisk mark out of his life.

“you’ll deal with it. i mean, it’s your soulmate, so i feel like it won’t matter.”

mark nods, shifting to lie down next to him, and promptly sighs again.

“you know, we never did anything for your birthday this year, since we weren’t in town at the same time. and we’re going to college this month, so.” he hums, and yukhei’s torn because-- they’re not talking about soulmates anymore, which makes it easier for him to ignore how much it _hurts_ , but mark also has a habit of printing memories into his head that he won’t be able to forget when mark moves on. maybe he’ll just stop celebrating birthdays entirely. whatever works.

“my maybe birthday.” yukhei corrects quietly. mark, of course, hears him.

“if it says june on your birth certificate, then that’s when your birthday is.”

“yeah, except immigration also spelled my middle name wrong, so. i don’t know if i trust them.”

“i _know_ , but still.”

“and,” yukhei cuts in, frowning, “my mom insists that my birthday’s in january.”

“but your dad says it’s in june.”

“there’s a one letter difference when you abbreviate it. i’m gonna trust the woman who birthed me.”

“ _ugh_ ,” mark rolls onto his side so he can lean against yukhei’s shoulder. it’s a bit closer than yukhei would like, honestly, but it means that mark can’t see the way his eyes draw lines between their skin. “listen, do you wanna go on a road trip? as a belated birthday gift, i mean.”

“sure. but i’m still pretty sure my birthday is in january, as in like _half a year ago_ , so it’ll be really, really late.”

“you’re impossible,” mark laughs it off, but yukhei knows he’s probably going to get yukhei an extra present to make up for it. yukhei knows he should probably say something, tell mark that it’s not necessary, but he’s enjoying this last bit of mark’s undivided attention before the boy turns 18. _tomorrow_ , yukhei reminds himself, and his heart aches.

he prays that mark is younger than his soulmate, because if they have to wait any longer for the appearance of some sort of soulmate key, yukhei may very well lose his mind.

minutes pass by until yukhei’s pretty sure mark’s fallen asleep-- he moves to situate mark more comfortably, maybe get him a pillow or something, but mark is tugging on his arm and whining, and yukhei has never wanted something more.

“stay,” mark whispers, “for today. please.” there’s the underlying _we won’t have this tomorrow_ that comes in the undercurrent of his words-- it’s a reminder that mark has been counting down the days as well, that he’s been waiting to find his soulmate his entire life, and maybe he’s going to miss yukhei just a little bit when it finally happens. even if he forgets soon after, it gives yukhei a tiny bit of comfort to know that for a moment, they’re in the same boat.

he lets himself wrap around mark, enjoying his last night of familiarity and warmth before it all gets yanked away.

when he wakes up, he doesn’t really realize that anything’s wrong. if anything, he just feels as tired as usual, and gently detaches himself from mark with muffled noises. he tip toes to the bathroom, looking for his toothbrush and running a hand over tired eyes as he blinks into the mirror, and-- oh.

 _oh_.

 _oh no_.

he might let out a bit of a yell, cut off as he stares at the too-familiar curves of mark’s face looking back at him, bright eyes wide as ever in the reflection.

his hand’s covering his mouth, dulling the gasp that escapes his lips as he continues to stare.

mark-- or yukhei, technically-- comes fumbling into the bathroom moments later.

and the thing is, even though it’s yukhei’s body (which is so, so weird), his expression is still so distinctly _mark_ that yukhei nearly swoons.

then mark stops in his tracks and looks at him and his jaw _drops_.

“oh my god,” mark says, quiet voice echoing against the bathroom, and yukhei tries to offer a smile.

“surprise?”

“xuxi, did you know? oh my god, did you know you were my soulmate?” mark is coming up to him, arms grabbing onto his shoulders like shaking him around is going to make him talk faster. spoiler alert, it won’t.

“no, dude, chill out,” yukhei pushes mark back, partially because he’s still not used to the fact that he’s looking at himself, but mostly because mark sounds near hysterical when he speaks. “i had no idea, i promise. i found out, like, a minute ago. i’m sorry, maybe this whole soulmate thing is broken, you know that some people--”

“don’t.” mark cuts in. yukhei blinks, because he didn’t think his voice could sound that firm, and he hesitates, listening quietly. “don’t say it’s broken, okay? why can’t-- why can’t you believe that maybe we are soulmates? is that so hard to believe?”

“no, i just--” yukhei can’t even finish his sentence, because this new revelation makes it both impossibly easier and harder to admit his lifelong crush. he sighs, defeated, and realizes that there’s probably something powerful to mark’s sighs, because now the younger boy is watching him in resignation.

“what?” mark asks quietly. his voice is small, smaller than yukhei would ever let his own voice get, and he hates it, hates knowing that it’s his fault. “tell me. just say it.”

“i know when you said you wanted a soulmate, you didn’t mean me.”

apparently it’s the wrong thing to say, because suddenly mark is standing taller and glaring and yukhei is instinctively backing up against the granite. an angry mark is almost as bad as a sad mark, and yukhei has already brought both out.

“don’t you _dare_ ,” mark grumbles, but there’s something so sad to the way he says it that yukhei can’t ignore even if he wanted to. this, he thinks, is worse than an angry or sad mark. (because it’s _both_ , he reminds himself dumbly, then proceeds to mentally slap himself). “i’ve been in love with you for three years-- you don’t get to tell me what i did or didn’t mean! you’re the idiot who never noticed. i had to hope for another soulmate because i knew you didn’t like me back, you _jackass_.”

every bit of yukhei that had felt bad earlier? yeah, it’s gone, replaced instead with something like bitter frustration that drips acid into his throat and words.

“oh, _i’m_ the jackass? three years is nothing, you idiot! i’ve been in love with you since we met, so screw you! you were always talking about your soulmate like you couldn’t even imagine it was me. what was i supposed to think?”

“well, maybe--” mark looks like he’s about to go on another full rant, but then he falters, and, “wait a second, you like me? _like_ like me?”

“yes, you buffoon.” yukhei wants to stay mad, he really does (he still can’t believe that mark used his mere three years is a long time to go pining), but mark is staring at him with stars in his eyes and his heart laid bare, and who is yukhei to ignore it? “fuck, i really, really like you. i swear.”

“wow.” mark leans back, closing his eyes and letting out a breath. yukhei thinks he’s getting used to seeing himself, just a little, since mark keeps doing things that are so distinctly _him_. “wow, dude, what? i really hit the jackpot.”

“uh, no, _i_ hit the jackpot.”

yukhei blinks, and then he’s staring at mark again-- _actual_ mark, in his own body and everything-- and he lets out a small _whoop!_

mark laughs even as yukhei pats himself down, glancing at the mirror to make sure that yeah, everything’s back to normal again.

“okay,” mark says finally, “we should go down and tell your parents over breakfast or something. but for now--” yukhei raises an eyebrow as mark tugs him back out of the bathroom, pushing him to the bed, “for now, i’m gonna go back to sleep, and i want to enjoy my first morning with my soulmate. so stay with me just a little longer, alright?”

“of course.”

yukhei lets himself essentially collapse against mark, sandwiching the smaller boy between himself and the bed.

mark giggles into his chest, light and familiar, and yukhei rolls off of him just so he can appreciate it. because even though his body is telling him to hide his affection, to pretend the same way he had the rest of his life, he knows that it’s okay now.

he’s allowed to look and love the way he always wanted to, and when mark looks back, he realizes that mark has been wanting the very same thing.

perhaps yukhei has won the lottery, but even if he hasn’t, he has mark, so-- who’s the real winner?

(hint: it’s still yukhei.)

**Author's Note:**

> uhhh sorry for any mistakes yall know me!!! anywho here r some fun facts abt this au:  
> -the mixup of yukheis bday is based off of my dad!! his mom says his bdays in june but when he came to the us they put "jan" instead so sfdk  
> -they end up going on a road trip to canada and it takes like weeks and they nearly crash the car a dozen times but they do it  
> -their unis r really close to home so they both go back for some weekends and see e/o then or just call e/o lots!!!
> 
> yall... to those of u leaving kudos/bookmarks/comments thank u?? so much??? ahhh u guys r the best and i lov u  
> also if u wanna talk to me on [curiouscat](http://curiouscat.me/6woojin) or [twitter](http://twitter.com/woo6in) thatd be amazing!!! give me markhei prompts, talk to me abt poly ships, or just rant abt ur day :'))  
> thank u guys again and i lov uuuu


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